What inspired you to write your novel, North of Broken & Furever Home?

My two dogs, Cash and Sully, are 100% the inspiration for this book. I adopted them both over ten years ago, and over that period, I’ve tried everything to help them overcome their anxieties and conquer their fears. Sully is afraid of everything and everyone, while Cash’s aggressive younger pup days kept us out of dog parks.

I made micro-adjustments to Sully’s routine to improve his canine life, but it only eased his fears for a short time. Cuddling was/is not part of Sully’s vocabulary, whereas Cash is a sixty-five-pound lap dog. Approaching Sully has never been easy, but I’ve never given up.

Three years ago, on an early September morning, Sully pivoted from his corner in the yard when he spotted me. He pranced onto the stoned path leading up to me, where I sat and pondered his lonely life. He bounded toward me with ears perked, tail swinging and tongue to the side. Once he reached me, he nudged the crook of my arm with his snout.

In that brief instant, four separate lines downloaded to my inner voice in a poem of sorts. The words comforted me and let me know Sully was content. I was the one who needed to accept it. From that moment on, we pivoted. Our human-dog relationship transformed – as did my writing life.

I kept the prose flowing into heartfelt love letters to my two dogs, including words of affirmation, but something nagged at me. This simple stanza became a full-length manuscript in three months, recreating Sully’s life the best I knew how. I’ve been working on it ever since, and the time has come to put it in readers’ hands.

Without a doubt, this story found its way to me, and my dog, Sully, was the conduit.

What did you learn about writing during the process of constructing the story?

A story starts from an idea and evolves along the way. It can turn in a direction you never expected as you incorporate narrative, description and dialogue, and if you are patient, you will watch the story shift and morph into something you can be proud of. When I was open to hearing what the characters had to say, they were able to communicate their traits, likes, conflicts, and how they wanted the story told.

Did you plot the book or free flow write?

From four lines, my current novel developed into something more than just a short story. I plotted the book several times, and reconfigured its order and points of view. In fact, I changed the verb tense several times until it felt comfortable when I read it aloud.

Occasionally, parts of chapters flowed onto the page in a spontaneous way, but mostly everything was carefully planned, including timelines and character sketches.

Were there any surprises about the writing and publishing process you did not expect?

I appreciated discovering my true writer’s voice. I initially tried to write in a way I thought the reader preferred, which made my words hesitant and difficult to express. That experience taught me to trust my authentic style when creating my writing.

The relationship between dogs and humans is an ancient one – did you find any surprising information while researching?

Although I haven’t conducted scientific research, I was most surprised by how much my dogs communicate with me daily. I had not been listening or paying close enough attention to understand what they needed. Writing this story helped me slow down, allowing me to pause and intentionally focus on both dogs.

What do you believe are the benefits of rescuing dogs?

It’s a win-win situation for both humans and dogs. Abandoned dogs never ask to be left behind; all they want is to serve. Rescuing a dog or a cat helps keep even one more animal off the streets.

What advice would you give someone considering adopting, or fostering a dog?

I recommend anyone looking to adopt, or foster a dog to consider the circumstances, especially if the dog’s background is unknown. Puppies are more impressionable, but adopting a dog with behavioural problems can make it difficult to modify those behaviours.

What is the central message of your novel?

I’m happy to answer this question because the message this story delivered to me came late in the writing process of my first novel. I, like so many others, am accustomed to using the term “rescue” to refer to my dogs, but when I interpreted my dog’s behaviour and created a story, it dawned on me that this was never a story of who rescued who but how we accepted one another, lived cohesively and found happiness in the small wins.

I’ve become a writer later in life. I have the privilege to financially support this passion via funds from my day job, but as I move closer to retirement, in three years, eleven months and fourteen days to be precise, I want to emphasize that the writing should bring you some sort of joy. The part of the process may not always be fun, and sometimes it’s downright discouraging, but if you can return to the moment where you found passion in your writing, you can move through the difficult stages of it.

Did you create your podcast because of your rescue experience?

I sure did!

Where can readers find your book and podcast?

My book can be found on Amazon and IngramSpark.

My podcast can be found on most podcatchers, but the link is below:

Ramblings From the Little Shed Podcast

https://ramblingsfromthelittleshed.riverside.com

Author Bio

Holly B. Gutwillinger is an author and podcaster from a small northern Ontario town. Her debut novel, North of Broken & Furever Home, launches February 14, 2026, exploring a woman’s complex relationship with her rescue dogs.

Holly’s writing is shaped by her deep love of family—she is the proud mother of two adult sons—and her commitment to the animals who enrich our lives.

She holds a certificate in creative writing from the University of Toronto’s School of Continuing Studies and is currently completing her MFA in fiction at the University of King’s College. Holly serves on the board of her local writers’ guild and volunteers with the Women’s Fiction Writers Association.

Mickey Mikkelson – Publicist – Creative Edge

Creative Edge Publicity – Home (creative-edge.services) 403.464.6925